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1984 Formula One season
The 1984 Formula One season was the 35th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1984 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1984 Fomula One World Championship for Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over a sixteen race series which commenced on March 25, 1984, and ended on October 21. Season summary The season had been expected to see a continuation of the Brabham- Renault-Ferrari battle, with supporting roles for McLaren, Williams and Lotus. McLaren however had stolen a march on its competitors thanks to its TAG turbo engine. The FISA had introduced new fuel economy rules aimed at reducing speeds, providing 220 litres of fuel for the entire race. TAG commissioned German sports car manufacturer Porsche to design and build a turbo engine. Porsche had extensive experience with similar economy rules due to its participation in endurance racing and this translated in superior fuel economy. Reigning world driver's champion Nelson Piquet and his Brabham-BMW were usually the fastest combination on track but appalling reliability meant he was never able to challenge consistently. The season saw a titanic battle between both McLaren drivers Niki Lauda and Alain Prost. Prost had been sacked by Renault after failing to win the 1983 title. Fast and ambitious, the Frenchman quickly established his dominance over his teammate. Austrian Niki Lauda had returned to F1 in 1982 and soon showed he had lost nothing of his earlier determination and guile. He regularly matched the pace of his 1982-1983 McLaren team mate John Watson, but Alain Prost was a different kettle of fish. Lauda quickly realized he could not beat his young team mate on speed. The wily Austrian therefore ignored qualifying and concentrated on his race strategies. By winning races when Prost ran into trouble and scoring relentlessly when Prost proved quicker, Lauda was just able to win the title. He was the only second driver after Denny Hulme in to have ever won the title without achieving a single pole position in the season. During the season, the Tyrrell team had its results stripped after a technical infringement. Team and Drivers 'Team and Driver Changes' * Brabham retained their 850 bhp (634 kW; 862 PS) BMW engines along with reigning World Champion Nelson Piquet. Italian brothers Teo and Corrado Fabi replaced Riccardo Patrese and shared the #2 seat allowing older brother Teo to honour commitments in the US based CART World Series. * Tyrrell had an all new driver line up. Gone were Michele Alboreto and Danny Sullivan and in were F1 rookie Martin Brundle and young West German ace Stefan Bellof. Tyrrell were the only team to run the full season with the 530 bhp (395 kW; 537 PS) Cosworth DFV engine. * Williams retained their 1983 line up of World Champion Keke Rosberg and Jacques Laffite. Williams ran the Honda V6 turbo engine for the entire season after having only run it in the last race of 1983 in South Africa. * McLaren ran the new TAG-Porsche turbo engine while Frenchman Alain Prost replaced John Watson and joined double World Champion Niki Lauda in what was seen as possibly the strongest driver line up of the season. * Lotus promised to get back to their glory days with the Renault engines and their 1983 driver line up of Elio de Angelis and Nigel Mansell who would drive the all new Lotus 95T designed by former Renault chief designer Gérard Ducarouge. * After a disappointing end to the 1983 season which saw the factory Renault team lose its way at the end of the year costing Alain Prost the Drivers' Championship and the team the Constructors' Championship, the major changes to the national French team was its drivers as well as the loss of designer Ducarouge. Prost and American Eddie Cheever were replaced with Patrick Tambay and Englishman Derek Warwick. The all new RE50 which was powered by the 800 bhp (597 kW; 811 PS) EF4 V6 engine was designed by Michel Tétu and Bernard Dudot. * Toleman who were an up and coming team in Formula One signed Venezuelan Johnny Cecotto as well as a rookie from Brazil by the name of Ayrton Senna, the reigning British Formula 3 Champion. The team continued to use the Hart 415T engine for the 1984 season to power their 1983 car, the TG183B and their new car which appeared for the first time at Dijon, the TG184. * Alfa Romeo lost major sponsor Marlboro and replacing the red and white was the green and red of Italian clothes manufacturer Benetton. Also gone were drivers Andrea de Cesaris and Mauro Baldi, replaced by Riccardo Patrese and Eddie Cheever. The team continued to use the thirsty V8 turbocharged engine for the season. * Ferrari introduced the latest version of their successful 126C model, dubbed the 126C4 which was powered by the 850 bhp (634 kW; 862 S) Tipo 031 V6 engine. With Tambay having departed for Renault the team signed its first Italian driver since in Michele Alboreto to join Frenchman René Arnoux who had finished 3rd in the Drivers' Championship in 1983. Results and Standings 'Grands Prix' # Half points awarded after race was stopped due to dangerous conditions. 1984 Formula 1 World Championship for Drivers - final standings Points towards the 1984 Formula 1 World Championship for Drivers were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six finishers in each race. † Half points were awarded at the Monaco Grand Prix as less than 75% of the scheduled distance was completed. | |} 1984 Formula 1 World Championship for Manufacturers - final standings Points towards the 1984 Formula 1 World Championship for Manufacturers were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six finishers in each race. * On 18 July, Tyrrell was disqualified from all races so far that season, and banned from competing in remaining races, due to a technical infringement which was discovered at the Detroit race. *† Half points were awarded at the Monaco Grand Prix as less than 75% of the scheduled distance was completed. Category:Formula One Seasons